1. Van Schaick enclosed a copy of a letter written to him by Lt. Col. Cornelius Van Dyck at Fort Schuyler, N.Y., on 17 April: “I am sorry I must inform you of an unlucky circumstance which happened to us on the night between the 13th & 14th Inst. & between the Hours of twelve & one, some Fire had unhappily lodged itself between the Chimney and the Chamber floor of the Guard House which caught so violently & it being on the Chamber so that the Guard did not perceive it until it had got so far that it was impossible to extinguish it, but consumed with the Snowshoes, and all the Arms, unfit for use belonging to the Garrison; we were necessiated (in order to save the rest of the Garrison from being consumed) to also haul down part of the rest of the Barracks, immediately in the morning I had all the Carpenters collected & employed who have now nearly again repaired the Barracks that were knock’d down and hope if nothing extraordinary falls in our way to have the Guard House also rebuilt by next saturday—This accident might have destroyed the whole Garrison had it not been for the Dexterity of the Officers & Soldiers who by taking down part of the Barracks, & the constant applying of Water (to that part which was on fire) which was conveyed thro the Sally Port prevented the fire from catching in any of the other buildings, not a man was hurt saving a few who lamed themselves by treading Nails in their feet” (DLC:GW).

2. For GW’s letter to Van Schaick dated 28 Nov. 1779, see GW to Philip Schuyler, 25 Dec. 1779, n.7.